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The Weekender: Musical Rugs, On Being Asian American, and Bring on Spring

table | chairs | bowl | rug

Musical Rugs

I did a thing I never do. I bought a vintage rug for our dining room shuffle after only spending 30 minutes searching. As an over-researcher and agonizer over details, that has never happened before! I stumbled across it in this Etsy shop, let out an audible gasp, and immediately showed Scott. He loved it immediately, I wanted an easy win, so I bought it.

It. Is. Beautiful. We love it. We’re over the moon! But my main concern was the navy border, specifically with how it will translate once we add a round dining table. (More about that here, if you’re just tuning in.) I’m concerned that the legs of our chairs will intersect with the border, which if I’m being honest, kind of makes me itch.

Charly sofa | storage ottoman

We still rolled it out under our current table, but I can’t help but wonder how it will look in the upstairs family room, under our Charly sofa (above)! The rug we currently have under our sofa was originally intended to live in our Two Flat – back when we were considering furnishing it as a short term rental. Our new-to-us vintage rug is similar in color to the vintage replica we have up there now, and I feel it could be a better mate to our Revival rug in the playroom:

Have I confused you yet?! Here’s the thing: In the last year, we’ve finally realized that it’s okay for a home to evolve. It should! We have had so much fun updating the snug and office-turned-playroom, designing the dining room, and, yeah, perhaps now we’ll play musical rugs. Or maybe we won’t. We’re learning to roll with the punches, tweak without guilt, and most importantly – have fun with the process.

PS: Which rug is right for you? Plus, what to look for when buying vintage rugs, why we use outdoor rugs inside, and why you should always use a rug pad.

I’m a Proud Asian American

art by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya

I am a proud Asian American. I love that our sweet Lucy girl is, in small part, Asian, too. My mom is first generation Korean, the only one of her family who lives in the United States. She works in a salon by day, dotes on her grandchildren by night. I’ve struggled with the news in the last few weeks, month, year. I’ve felt the pokes and jokes as a child, teen and adult. I’ve come home from school and asked my dad, ‘What did they mean by that?‘ Below, an excerpt from an article I read this past week, amongst the chaos and sadness:

You’re not supposed to write about big feelings while you’re having them. You’re supposed to wait until you have enough distance to be objective, to sort out the important details from the ones that will fade with meaning over time. But I realize that’s the problem: I am always waiting my turn to be important. If I may: we are always waiting our turn to be important.

A Love Letter to Asian Americans, by Lucy Feld

Lucy Feld’s article in Time was beautifully written, and I’ve been holding the accompanying art by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya close to my heart. I continue to tell – ask? – Scott, ‘It can only go up from here. Right?’ I’m sharing this small glimpse into my life in the hopes that it will go up from here. Because the more we know, the more we learn and absorb and care about other people, the higher and higher we’ll all rise.

Bring On Spring

In sunnier news (because I cope by focusing on the things that make me smile), spring is, finally, officially here! (I feel like I’ve been saying this for weeks, but this time the calendar can back me up.) Bring on all the pastels, bright colors and swingy dresses. Below, I’m sharing the items we’ve picked up for the family to get us in the spring spirit!

  1. Midi shirt dress | I loved this the moment I slipped it on. I prefer short sleeves over sleeveless, and the v-neck hits in a flattering spot. The polka dots are extra cute! I may even pick this up in the other pattern.
  2. Lilac Birkenstocks | For me + matching mini slip-ons for Lucy, too!
  3. Olive & June nail polish | Y’all know I found a passion for nails during the endless quarantine, and I just stocked up in a few new colors! Olive & June is my forever go-to. Can’t wait to try Lava, a hot orange-red! PS: If you use that link, you’ll save $10 off a $50 order!
  4. Saie Glowy Super Gel Dewy Highlighter | I added this to my cart to reach the free shipping minimum (guilty), and wow, am I glad I did! I’ve been adding a pump to my face sunscreen for a soft all-over glow.
  5. Organic cotton pocket tees | Every season, Scott picks up a few of these! Hands down, his favorite washes, cut and colors.
  6. Poppy swimsuit | We plan on spending a lot of time at the beach this summer, and I couldn’t resist this poppy red for our vibrant Lucy.
  7. Easy wide leg pants in bone | These are en route! I can’t wait to pair them with vintage tees and my lilac slip-ons.
  8. Large wire baskets* | These are large and so well made. They’re heavy, beautiful and have the prettiest leather detail. I’m stashing one in the craft room to contain Lucy’s art, and the other will go in our bedroom to stash books, pajamas and loose odds ‘n ends.
  9. Mini portable projector | Scott researched for weeks before deciding on this projector. Backyard movies all summer long!
  10. 100′ retractable hose reel | We’re done buying cheap(ly made) hose reels, so in preparation of watering our garden and watching it bloom!, we ponied up and bought this. It tucks against the house, which is great for our skinny Chicago gangway.

*denotes a gifted item.

Weekend Sales

Have a Relaxing Weekend

What are your plans over the next couple of days? We’ve had plans to cut back our patio garden and re-stain the planter boxes every day for a week, but the weather continues to have other plans. We’re crossing our fingers that this will be the weekend for whipping our back patio into shape! Wishing you all a joyful, relaxing weekend, doing whatever it is that brings you happiness.

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  • Stacy3.26.21 - 8:01 AM

    Well I had OTHER plans for this weekend, but last night I noticed it was getting kind of warm in the house and figured out that there’s something bad happening with the A/C. I think/hope it’s just the thermostat and not the unit itself, but with a high of 93 (!!!) today it’s basically summer here, so I will be troubleshooting that until I can get some cold conditioned air again!
    Completely unrelated – I checked a few of your rug posts and didn’t see this specific topic covered yet, so I’d be interested to know how you choose to mix rugs, specifically vintage ones. On your first floor it looks like you have at least three rugs in a single sight line, and two of those are pretty saturated in color. How do you decide what will work without wasting money on a rug you love that just doesn’t GO anywhere? I feel like I have rug buying paralysis way too often so I’d really love some discussion on this!ReplyCancel

    • Kim3.26.21 - 8:04 AM

      I think that’s another problem with this navy and floral rug – it’s fighting too much with our kitchen runner! Ideally I’d only have one rug in one sight line that’s the statement, which is why I’m thinking I need to go more neutral in the dining room. That’s just my personal preference.ReplyCancel

  • Julia | Chris Loves Julia3.26.21 - 8:38 AM

    You are so important and valued and I wish you would scream your feelings from the rooftop. Or at least a Marco Polo. Love you Kim! Thanks for sharing that article, what a powerful read. PS. Musical rugs, furniture, art–it all energizes me and in turn, our home so much! I’m for it.ReplyCancel

  • Michelle3.26.21 - 9:42 AM

    That projector has a 40% off coupon! Just bought for our former-guest-room-turned-rec-room. Thanks for doing the research for me! ReplyCancel

  • Blake3.26.21 - 4:58 PM

    There is a 40% off coupon for that projector on amazon prime right now (Friday afternoon)!!!ReplyCancel

  • Nicole3.26.21 - 7:17 PM

    Thank you for sharing the article and your own experiences. I hope things go up from here! Cheers to a good weekend.ReplyCancel

  • Ann3.27.21 - 1:09 PM

    We have a lot of Oriental rugs that blend b/c we’ve been rigid about maintaining our blue border rule: all of them have a navy border and present a united front even though they’re all different. I suspect you’ll never be quite satisfied with how the blue/white rug works under your table, b/c the size is too small, and b/c the color is so different from nearby rugs. If you have a rug with reds that pick up the tones of the runner? You’d be a lot happier with how it looks in the dining room. That would allow your eye to move rather than forcing it to stop to analyze why your eye stopped.ReplyCancel

    • Kim3.27.21 - 2:34 PM

      I agree with you! Thinking we’ll try this one upstairs.ReplyCancel

  • Julie3.27.21 - 2:28 PM

    Learning to listen, love, and accept all people is a continual human issue and  this was a beautiful sentiment. Thanks for sharing your experiences and feeling. Bring on spring, those sandals are my favorite!ReplyCancel

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